BP employees plead not guilty

Robert Kaluza, a well-site leader with British Petroleum who was on the job during the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, talks with his attorneys before entering federal court.

NEW ORLEANS — Two BP well-site leaders and a former executive pleaded not guilty and defiantly promised Wednesday a vigorous defense to felony charges stemming from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster, a day after the British oil giant they worked for made an appearance before the same judge to answer to manslaughter charges.

The men and their lawyers said they are eager to tell their side to a jury.

“I think about the tragedy on the Deepwater Horizon every day,” defendant Robert Kaluza said from the steps of the courthouse. “But I didn't cause this tragedy.”

Defendant Donald Vidrine's attorney, Bob Habans, said his client is a law-abiding citizen who was just doing his job and following orders from on-shore managers who were making the critical decisions the day of the rig explosion.

“Don Vidrine has two lawyers. The government has hundreds of lawyers and they've spent millions of dollars on this investigation. And yet they are at a disadvantage. The reason? Truth and justice are on our side,” Habans said.

Brian Heberlig, an attorney for third defendant David Rainey, said after the hearing that his client is doing as well as can be expected and that they “plan to defend this case vigorously.”

U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle set trial for Jan. 28 for Rainey and Feb. 4 for Kaluza and Vidrine. But that date is likely be to extended later, as the defendants' attorneys are sure to argue that the case — after 2½ years of investigations by multiple government agencies and independent commissions — is complex and they won't be ready to try the case in such a short time.

Kaluza and Vidrine, well-site leaders on the Deepwater Horizon at the time of the explosion, are charged with manslaughter, accused of failing to alert on-shore managers at the time they observed clear signs that BP's Macondo well was not secure and that oil and gas were flowing into the well, which blew out.

Rainey, a former BP vice president in charge of exploration in the Gulf of Mexico who is accused of understating the amount of oil that was flowing from the well, is charged with obstruction of Congress and making false statements to law enforcement officials.

If convicted of the maximum penalties, Kaluza and Vidrine face what would amount to the rest of their lives in prison, while Rainey faces up to 10 years in prison.